Chapter 165: Desperate Prey

Cordelia knew exactly why she had come. Sweet-talking a fool was easy, but luring the hunter like prey...

She shook her head, pushing that thought out of her mind. Alexandro Varkas was truly boring. Eleanor, on the other hand... She remembered that she had been the one who called Cassian; though she couldn’t understand what he saw in a woman like that, it only made things easier for her. Clearly, his weakness was obvious. With that in mind, she said goodbye to both counts and turned around, with Morgana quickly approaching to speak with her.

"Mother? How did it go with the father of my darling?"

"Your ’darling’ has us tied up," she replied in a reproachful tone.

"You can’t blame me, Mother. I told you it wasn’t a good idea to stay on Leonardo’s side."

The duchess’s eyes narrowed as she looked toward the front area, where a woman sat holding a glass of wine, relaxed in posture with the look of a fox. Cordelia sighed, ignored her daughter, and walked toward that woman.

"Caelia."

The woman’s smile widened when she heard her friend call her name.

"What’s the matter, Cordelia? You don’t look like you’re at your best," she said playfully.

The duchess raised an eyebrow and sat beside her, pouring herself a glass of wine to join her.

"Don’t you think you should have told me?"

"What are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you hundreds of times? My son is incredible."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "My daughter is engaged to him."

Caelia laughed, but her eyes quickly turned serious. With a stern look, she said, "I don’t know what you’re expecting, Cordelia, but I won’t help you or your daughter get on his good side. And whatever you’re planning by getting so close to Elizabeth or his ’parents’ makes no sense."

To Caelia’s surprise, the other woman responded quickly: "I know. We already talked about this. Do you really think you matter to him? What do you actually know about him, Caelia?"

The former empress’s eyes narrowed. "Cordelia, he is my son now. He makes me happy and he didn’t kill me. Why should anything else matter? If you have so many doubts, why don’t you go talk to him directly instead of going from person to person looking for information?"

At that moment, Caelia’s eyes turned toward Cassian, who seemed to be leaving the venue, and she continued: "Look, it seems like this is your chance."

Cordelia followed her gaze and saw the man they were talking about leaving the celebration. She bit her lip and, without saying goodbye, started walking in that direction.

Caelia, on the other hand, watched her with darkened eyes, her nails almost digging into her palms until they hurt. I’m really going too far for you, Cordelia.

Her obsession with Cassian was too deeply engraved in her bones, and although she knew she wasn’t the only woman for him, she also didn’t want to be the one dragging more people to his side. But on the other hand, her cunning mind was already beginning to understand things she had previously ignored because she had been blinded by him.

I won’t let you forget me, her twisted mind kept repeating.

...

In the hallways outside the main hall.

Cordelia followed Cassian with a furrowed brow, "confused" about where he was heading. But since it didn’t seem like he had any intention of stopping soon, she quickened her pace and stopped him herself. She positioned herself in front of him.

"Are you going to make me run all over this place?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I don’t have time to waste on your games, Cordelia."

"Are you going to look for Elizabeth? The other day Adela went to her office while I was there. It seemed like it was something serious."

His eyes changed, sending a shiver through her body.

"Is that so?" he said indifferently.

She frowned in response and composed herself. Her gaze scanned the surroundings somewhat hesitantly, but then she pulled Cassian so that his back hit the wall and brought her lips dangerously close to his.

"You owe me money."

He looked at her again with a raised eyebrow, interested in how she would continue this.

"Your little subordinate left me broke."

A soft laugh escaped him. "And how is that my fault? If you let yourself get scammed by her, there’s nothing I can do about it."

"It’s easy for you to say. You weren’t the one surrounded by transcendent-level practitioners everywhere. And that smell of blood that day..." Her hand began to slide down from his chest, moving dangerously close to his belt buckle. "But you’re right. I should have realized I could have solved it in other ways."

His eyes flattened, all amusement gone. "Do you think you’ll gain anything from this?"

"It seems the others did."

"Maybe, but..." With a quick movement, Cassian turned them around, leaving her the one now pressed against the wall. "I don’t have time right now, and honestly, it’s disappointing."

He disappeared like mist after saying those words. Cordelia stood with wide eyes, surprised. Seriously? She looked at the floor in annoyance, but her eyes were still sharp, with no intention of giving up.

A laugh sounded then from a distance. "Mother, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you lose this badly."

Cordelia looked at Morgana with annoyance. "Do you understand that after today it’s very likely you won’t see him again?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Are you really that lost? His sister is in Pradiles, and something tells me that whatever Elizabeth has been handling in secret is related to her. He’s going to talk to her. And the next time you see him? You’ll be lucky if you manage to get him to honor the small engagement that someone like Count Varkas accepted. We have to act fast, Morgana. We don’t have any more time."

The younger woman frowned. "But now we’re working with Nexus. He shouldn’t forget about me so easily, right? Besides, Mother, it seems like you’re the one who’s most bothered by this. I’m not surprised since we both have the same ambitions, but you showed yourself to be too desperate. That’s not typical of you."

Cordelia shook her head. "There are things you don’t know, Morgana. I already had a deal with Vitalis and the people behind them; now we’re on our own. If we want to survive what’s coming, or at least have a chance, there’s no other option."

"What are you talking about?" Morgana’s expression showed she was completely lost, and her mother seemed to know much more than the other nobles of Demor could even begin to understand.